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Universal Health Coverage

Universal Health Coverage or UHC refers to a goal for each nation whereby all citizens have access to health services they need, and don’t suffer financial hardship when paying for them.

In moving towards UHC, strong political will is required to ensure:

Increased and sustainable health financing

Resilient health system capable of providing good quality, responsive and equitable services

Strong stewardship to lead the health systems, foster efficiency and garner collaborations

There is no single mix of policy options or set models to achieve universal health coverage and each country or even states, in the Indian context will have to take its own path based on health needs and health systems capacity.

The three dimensions to be considered for moving towards UHC are

Which population will be covered

What services would be provided

What proportion of health expenditure would be borne by government

WHO

A right balance needs to be struck and policy options chosen as to what and which proportion of the population will be covered, the range of services that would be included, and the costs that will be covered.